More Mischief in Durham as Election Official is Indicted

…determined that [Durham County election official, Richard Robert] Rawling ran or ordered subordinates to run provisional ballots through tabulators more than once and made manual changes to the ballot count so the results of the provisional canvass would match the number of approved provisional ballots. That was done, the investigation found, to avoid having to report to the Durham County Board of Elections a discrepancy in the number of provisional ballots in possession of the Board of Elections and the number counted on canvass day.”

Our election laws are only as effective as the people administering the elections. As we proved during that same primary in 2016, when I filmed a Wake County election official intentionally misleading unaffiliated voters (including yours truly) about which ballot we could choose. We also received multiple reports of election employees refusing to check some voters’ ID cards, even though it was the law (during that primary), so Mr. Rawling’s alleged conduct should not surprise anybody familiar with the chaotic numbers that came out of Durham County after that election.

Richard Robert Rawling’s indictment yesterday drives home the point that trained observers need to monitor the electoral process from beginning to end. This is the reason we have been pushing for House Bill 697, The Observer Bill of Rights, sponsored by house member Michael Speciale during the recent long session. Without trained observers positioned so they can actually see and hear the election officials doing their jobs, we do not have honest elections in North Carolina.